I am a mother of triplets in NJ and I have always put safety first. I kept my kids in carseats until 8 yrs or 80 lbs. No one sat in the front seat of the car until large enough. I teach driving skills at every teachable moment on the road as drivers do unsafe things.

Now the State of New Jersy has passed a law that restricts young drivers as follows: Kyleigh's Law gives every driver under 21

o A curfew of 11pm
o No Cell phone or Ipod use
o Decal on your license plate labeling you an inexperienced driver.

HERE is the one I have a problem with as a mother of Triplets

o Only one other passenger in the car who is also under 21. this means they can't ride anywhere together, not even school. Is it really safer to put 2 cars on the road? I can't afford insurance on two more cars.

Any thoughts from parents of driving triplets would be appreciated.

Check with your DMV. Michigan has a similar law for 16 year old drivers for 1 year. When my triplets got their drivers licenses, I checked and the law didn't apply to siblings...whew. Thank goodness.

Trish Dawson
Mom to bgg (1992 @ 31
weeks)

Thanks, I did check the NJ law is only one passenger under 21 unless dependants. Not siblings!

gosh, that's too bad. I can't imagine how we would have done it. They all drive to school together and then have sports afterwards and drive home together.

Now that they are 17, that restriction of no other minors in the car is lifted and they can give a friend a ride. They can also now drive past midnight, but that's not likely since their curfew on weekends is midnight.

Good luck.

Trish Dawson
Mom to bgg (1992 @ 31
weeks)

Work to alter the law to include siblings. The law is a bit stringent given that a 21 year old has 5 years of driving experience, and there is no reason siblings shouldn't be allowed in the vehicle.
People forget that not everyone has just 2 children.

Tracey, busy mom to:
Michael (16)
Francesca (15)
Matt, Lexi, Gabi (13)
AFS exchange student Alice (17)

That is definitely an issue when you have 3 driving at once.

I have one driving who is going to be 18 next week (my triplets are only 11) and he can hardly wait to turn 18 and get that "minor" designation off his license. He would totally freak if we had those other restrictions - which by the way I don't think are bad at all.

Are their any exemptions you can file for?



http://teensandtriplets.blogspot.com/

Wiltrip Mom with 5
2 teens & BBG - school age and easier than the teens!

"When they're little, they're on your toes. When they're grown, they're on your heart" ...Virginia Robe

I agree with the restricts. I think a car of friends can be very distracting. I don't believe you would have the same issue with same age siblings. It's unfortunate, that NJ must create laws that are just good parenting rules. It's a year away and there is a lot of opposition to the law from parents not wanting their girls license plates identifying them as a minor. So I will wait and see what happens.

I can't believe that the state would allow a plate to indicate that the driver was a minor! Remember that horrible serial murder case somewhere (Florida maybe) where rental cars were targeted...the killer knew that the drivers were tourists by the rental plates. Soon thereafter rental plates were changed to be more mainstream in alot of states!

Other than that, I think most states exempt siblings from the under 21 rule...too bad NJ didn't, although the law may have some problems anyway!

GGG born 9/3/05 at 35w3d